The Element
by danzin mushrooms
Summary: A new mutant in the mansion. Her past begins to haunt her present. Can the Xmen save her, before it's too late? Can they? Can they? Idk! You'll have to review and tell me what you think! Gets a bit dark in later chapters, just suicide, drug use, alcolholi
1. Street Life

Disclaimer- I own nothing, not even the clothes on my back. I'm not making any money from this.

Summary: When one of the X-men rescues a girl off the streets, she proves to be more complex and unreachable than any of the others. She also has a past that haunts…literally.

It was night, and she was running. The well-worn grey streets were inky black, and at 11:00pm in New York City, she has reason to pound them. She was a lone girl, quite pretty, on the wrong side of town surrounded by drunken hobos and perverts. She was also a mutant.

She turned into an alleyway, breathing hard, trying to catch her breath. The men had been following her from the moment she left the rowdy club. A group of 5 or 6, maybe, and were all pretty much wasted. She could hear them coming closer. Cursing herself for her stupidity of choosing an alleyway of all places to hide in, she quickly scanned the dark alleyway. A barbed wire fence looked to be her only way out as the men stumbled down the street.

"C'mere, pretty girl, we ain't gonna hurt you," one of them slurred. They had just turned the corner into the alleyway, and were slowly advancing on to her.

"Jonsie, I get this one first," a guy with stubble who reeked of whiskey said.

"You got the last one, though!"

"Yeah, but she was barely pleasurable, she kept screamin and flailin like." The men guffawed.

Stubble Man walked slowly forward, his eyes alight with desire and greed. The girl instantly flipped out 2 long, sharp, bluish knives from, apparently, thin air. She glared at them in a satisfactory sort of way as they choked on their cigarettes and beer bottles.

"Yo', man, this broad's a mutie!" one of them yelled. The girl waited for them to stumble away. They always did, once she pulled out her mutation.

"All the more reason to make her suffer," Stubble Man growled. He lunged. The girl slashed his cheek with her knife in her left hand and jumped back a few steps into a garbage can. The men whistled and laughed, one of them said "I always love the feisty ones."

The man looked black with rage as he touched his fresh cut. He pulled out a revolver. The girl froze. She was definitely not expecting this.

"Make a move and you die," he growled, close to her ear. He unbuttoned her shirt, exposing her pale breasts. He lay slobbery kisses down on her neck, and face. She closed her eyes, thinking fast. If she could just get to that barbed-wire fence, she could easily slash it through with her knives. But how to get Stubble Man off of her, she had no idea…

Stubble Man forced her up against the graffiti-splattered wall. Breathing hard, he pinned her arms and held the gun up right under her chin while trying to get his dirty jean button undone.

The girl could only feel blind panic as she struggled and fought against his strong hold.

"Get off of me!" she shrieked, over and over, but the man just laughed cruelly.

"Mutant girlies such as you should be taught a lesson."

A masculine-looking hand suddenly encircled Stubble Man's neck. Shocked, she saw that 3 thin silver knives had sprung out of his knuckles. He choked, eyes growing wide. The girl used his distraction to hurriedly button up her shirt.

"Now, that's no way to treat a lady." A deep gravelly voice growled. "I should slit your pathetic body into pieces, but I've got better things to do. Get outta here, or you'll know pain." Stubble Man tripped in his haste to get out of the alleyway. He and his pack scrambled away.

"You okay, kid?" asked the voice. Looking up, the girl saw that he looked very much feral (A/N: okay, if you haven't figured out who that is by now, then you're daft)

"Fine" the girl muttered. She made to exit the alleyway, but the man stopped her.

"Wait, what's your name?" he asked, questioningly. The girl looked at him warily. He was obviously a mutant, she wasn't stupid, but she had learned long ago that you can never trust anyone.

"I ain't gonna hurt you. I think I can help you, actually. I know this guy, Chuck, who runs a school for mutants. He'd be more than happy to take you in."

Still looking at him cautiously, she quickly took the card he offered and stuffed it into her pant pocket. She vowed she would never use it. She had never taken help before, and she wasn't going to start now.

"Thanks, but I'm not really interested," she said hurriedly.

"Alright," the man said, looking and sounding as if he had gotten this reply before and been proved wrong, "But the door is always open, when things get to be too much."

"Thanks," the girl said, brushing by him and jogging into the street. She wandered home, 3 blocks later, into a slummy-looking brick house. Closing the door quietly behind her, she almost tripped over her mother, who was lying passed out on the ground.

The girl heaved her mother up from under the arms and dragged her to the moth-eaten couch. Tucking a well-worn quilt around her mother, the girl's gaze skimmed over her mother's drooling mouth, and snoring wheezes. She had been through this before, many times. Sighing, she dragged her worn, skinny body up to her bedroom. Pausing before she collapsed in the bed, the girl looked in the mirror. Her long jet-black hair softly curled around her head and shoulders, framing her thin face. One of her eyes was black, rimmed with an electric blue-white. The other was a dark green, almost blackish color. They both, however, were hard and determined, seeing things that begged not to be. She was naturally slender, but with the type of meals she had been getting all her life, she looked to the point of sickness. Glaring at her own self in the mirror for a second more, she walked towards the bed and tumbled down into a unsteady sleep, unknowing that her hand had curled around the card the mysterious rescuer had given her.

A/N: Okay, me promises that I will give out her name next chapter. A lot more drama/action will happen, and we'll meet the X-men later on. PLEASEEEE R/R, it will fuel me to the finish! (but be nice, tis my first fanfic!)


	2. The MediLab

CHAPTER DOS!

I still own nothing, but now, actually, I own a large llama named Franz Edward II.

The girl sighed, looking out the window of the drugstore she worked in. It was grey, drizzling, and bleary outside. She sometimes hated this city, because it was just so darn…grey.

It was late afternoon, almost evening, around 5:00pm. She would be done her shift in –she checked her watch- two minutes. She was thinking hard about her mother's latest boyfriend. Bo, that was his name, had punched her earlier this afternoon, while her mother poured herself a drink of vodka and declaring, "You need to get out of this house and find somewhere else to live! Zia, you're driving me insane!"

Zia Tarlen was her name, and she was 17 years old. She rarely attended high-school, but was still rather smart for a drop-out. She couldn't wait until she was 18, then she could move out and make her own decisions.

She checked her watch. Exactly 5:00. Grinning in triumph, she quickly walked toward the door, and waited for the city bus that loyally took her home every day, except for Holidays and Sundays.

She ran up to the door and into her smoke-smelling house. Her mom and her boyfriend were sitting there, glaring at her, in the living room. She glared right back.

"Well, guess what Mr. Deutechen told us, today, Zia. He had a very strange story of what you did to him last night." Her mom tried to sound parental, but Zia could tell she had been drinking. Her eyes were out of focus.

"What?" Zia was truthfully without a clue.

"You're a mutant," growled her mother. Zia blanched. She hadn't told them, and she had planned to keep it that way.

"So what?" she replied, trying to appear calm.

"So, we don't like freaks in the house! You're a first-class mutie, and I won't have it!" roared Bo, jumping up and taking a swing at her. It hit her squarely in the eye, and the force of it slammed her into the door. Blinking, seeing stars, she groaned and gasped as she was continually kicked and punched everywhere. After only 5 minutes, her face was streaming blood and she was sure her ribs were cracked.

Somehow, she stumbled into her room and packed her things into a sports bag. She was thrown out the door into the skies now pouring rain. Buckets and buckets cascaded down as she walked toward the bus stop. When the bus finally came and she got on, she didn't know who was controlling her, but she wordlessy handed the bus-driver the card that the mystery man had given her.

Zia jumped off the bus and into a puddle. She stared up at the sprawling grounds, long driveway, and enormous mansion before her. _This was a stupid idea_, she cursed herself silently as the bus pulled away. _But then again, where else will I go?_

She walked up to the huge gates. A camera attached to the top zoomed around and stared at her for a long moment. She examined herself, from her ratty hair to her well-worn sweatshirt, to her patched jeans and sneakers. She probably wasn't going to be admitted through the gates. To her surprise, however, they opened creakily. She slipped through, and began to walk up the long driveway, limping. Bo had hurt her bad. Although the rain had washed away most of the blood, she was bruised all over, and she was sure she was going to pass out sooner or later. She zoned out in her own pain.

Before she knew it, she had tripped over the stone steps leading up to a handsome oak door. Groaning, she lifted herself up and knocked on the brass knocker loudly.

A tall, violently red-haired woman opened the door. She smiled warmly, beckoningly inside.

"Please, come in. We were expecting you."

Zia gave her a weird look as she followed her inside to a spacious entrance hall, with doors off to the side and a large staircase. She led her into a through a series of doorways. Zia was too tired and too weak to care where she was going. She finally stopped outside a mahogany door. The lady knocked twice. The door opened.

It was obviously an office or study of some kind. Sitting in a high-tech looking wheelchair, a bald man smiled. Zia only stared at him.

"Thank you Jean, that will be all." Jean left, the door clicking behind her.

"I…I was told I could get help here." started Zia. "And, I need it," she regretted her weak words.

"Well, then, you came to the right place. I am Charles Xavier, and this is my school for gifted youngsters. You are taught how to control your mutation, alongside others like you." Zia nodded, not knowing what she should say.

'_Tell me, Zia, what is your mutation power?'_ said a voice somewhere in her head.

Zia looked at Xavier, shocked. He smiled. '_I am a telepath. I can read people's thoughts, communicate with my mind, and make people do things.' _

"Erm…" Zia didn't know what to say after this little speech. "Well, I can gather things from the energy sources around me, including the elements and living energy if other fuel isn't available, and form them into things. Like this…"

A blue-silver dagger formed in her hand, looking almost translucent, but undoubtedly solid.

"Fascinating. Well, I hope you will feel at home here. Now, I noticed that you have received some…er…injuries. I think you should be escorted to the medi-lab, and then sent right to sleep. It's apparent you've had a long, tiring day." Xavier smiled graciously at Zia. Zia lifted up the corner of her mouth for a split second, then returned back to her intense stare.

A pretty, auburn-haired woman with a white streak through her hair opened up the door quietly.

"Prof, ya wanted to see me?" She asked, with a Southern drawl.

"Yes, please escort Zia down to the medi-lab, she needs some immediate attention." He turned to Zia "Zia, this is Rogue, one of the members of the X-men. She, alongside others, call themselves the X-men. We fight against the evils of the world, and help keep it safe for everyone, mutant and human."

Zia stared him directly in the eye, surprised. "But why fight for a world that hates you?"

Xavier smiled sadly. "Why wouldn't we?"

Zia nodded. She followed Rogue out of the door and into a long carpeted hallway. Rogue smiled at her.

"Ya'll like it here. Everyone's real nice. But who gave you those shiners?" She pronounced here 'he-uh', nice 'nahce', and shiner 'shina'. Zia half-shrugged, not wanting to present her problems at home to this complete stranger.

"Alraght, then," said Rogue gently. "Well, my powers are super-strength, flying, and I can also absorb people's thoughts and powers."

Zia noticed only her head was uncovered by material. She looked at the woman with a new kind of respect.

They walked along in silence, and then arrived at silver sliding doors. They walked through.

Zia froze. There were all types of needles, and weird, lethal-looking instruments. Breathing hard, she cursed herself for falling into such a trap. This was a mutant-lab, where they were going to do all sorts of horrific experiments on her. Putting her hands casually in her mangy sweatshirt pocket, she slowly and silently drew two hand-length daggers in each hand. She wasn't going down without a fight.

A large, blue, furry shape moved out of a door to her right. He smiled.

"Ah, Zia, arrived right on time. I'm Doctor McCoy, call me Beast, and I'm the resident doctor here," he said. Zia just glared at him. He seemed unperturbed by her hostility. "Now, if you could just lie on this bed here, I can begin to inspect you." Zia snorted.

"Yeah, like I'm just going to hop on the bed like a good little girl." She backed away slowly toward the door.

"Darlin, we ain't goin ta hurt ya!" said a shocked Rogue. "We just want to clean up those injuries."

With labored breath, Zia backed towards the door. There was a funny ringing in her head. Rogue made a move toward her. She pulled out the daggers as quick as lightning. Rogue froze, and Beast cursed softly.

"Zia, honey, calm down, you'll get yourself ahl worked up!" Rogue looked genuinely worried. Zia wished the screaming in her head would die down. Were those voices, added along to the terrified shrieking? She was going to vomit, she knew it. As her legs buckled and she fell to the ground, Zia had a sense of her world crashing along right with her as she felt a blinding hot pain in her head.


	3. Xmen Encounters

Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Franz Edward my llama ran away, so now I officially own nothing.

Dark shapes blurred around her vision. Whispers, mutterings, somebody taking a blood sample. She felt dead, although she knew she wasn't. She shifted slightly, and opened her eyes. The man called Beast was talking to a tall, beautiful African woman with white hair. She sat up

"Ah, how nice to see you awake, child," said the woman, her voice with a musical tilt to it. "My names is Ororo Monroe, but call me Storm. I can control the weather."

"Where the hell am I?" asked Zia groggily. It was the only question that popped into her mind, besides "And what the hell did you put me on?"

"Why, at the Xavier institute, of course. Do you not remember last night? And the drug is for your own good." Beast said, chuckling slightly.

Zia fell back into the pillow. The events of last night came crashing back. Silently checking over her body, she didn't _feel_ anything was wrong, except, of course, that she was tired to the point of being asleep. She was on a hospital cot, wearing a light blue hospital gown.

"Alright…" she said. "So when can I blow this joint?"

"You can," Beast said, pausing with a look of disgust on his face, "_blow_ this _joint_ now, if you wish. My tests show me that you are healthy, except for a cracked rib. However, it will not do you any harm; you just have to heal for a couple of days."

"Here," Storm presented her with a folded pile of clothing. "I got this from your bag. We will have to take you shopping, because your clothing is about to fall apart."

Swinging her legs over the side of the bed, Zia went into the small bathroom and changed. She looked in the mirror. She didn't think it was possible, but she looked worse than before. Her hair was matted and knotty, there was a large band-aid on her forehead, and she had two blue-black swelling eyes. She groaned unbelievingly, then exited the medi-lab following Storm.

"You are just in time for breakfast, Zia. This will give you a chance to meet some of the X-men. However, many times they are away, completing their missions," said Storm. She then began to explain something about training, and a danger room, but Zia was preoccupied with the smell of the most delicious food she had ever smelled. Eggs, bacon, and pancakes wafted in from an ajar door.

A large kitchen filled with silver cooking utensils gleamed as two mutants chattered while they chopped food. One was a tall, muscular man with red eyes and brown hair. The second one a girl; short, had a bright yellow trench coat on, very 80's attire, and black short hair.

Suddenly, the woman was right in front of Zia, grinning broadly and shaking her hand.

"Hey, I'm Jubilee, and we're roomies, can you believe it?" she said excitedly. Zia smiled slightly and took shook her hand back.

"I'm Zia." She said. The man turned around and grinned, holding out his hand.

"Bonjur, petit, call me Remy," he said. Zia took his hand and shook it. What was with all the people here and being over-friendly? Or maybe it was just her lack of kindness toward people that was making her feel set-apart.

A man moved forward from the corner. Zia started.

"Hey, kid," he said. It was the man who had helped her that one night in the alley. He had short, wild blue-black hair and outrageous sideburns. He was short, stocky, muscular, and overall intimidating. "Name's Logan, or Wolverine. Good to see ya looking better."

Zia nodded and shook his hand. Storm and Beast were standing by, grinning.

"Well, let's go have some of that delicious smelling breakfast," said Beast, as Storm and he entered the dining room.

Suddenly, a bright blue-grey smoke puff obscured her vision, and she heard a loud BAMF, and a cherry "Hello!"

Instinctively, Zia drew out two long, sharp, curved blades and got into a fighting stance. She knew her eyes were turned a vivid electric-blue.

"Mein Gott!" said a blue furry creature with yellow eyes, falling back to the floor. He held up his hands. "I mean no harm!"

Breathing hard, and flushed with surprise and embarrassment, Zia made the knives poof into blue smoke, before vanishing.

"I..I'm..sorry.." she said, stuttering. She could feel the embarrassment on her face as the blue from her eyes faded. Why, _why_ did she always turn beet red like that?

"Jesus, elf, ya couldn't walk the ten feet from the dining room to the kitchen?" muttered Logan. Zia noticed he hadn't backed away at all, but was looking on with a kind of amusement, smoking a cigar.

"It's okay, I'm sorry, I really am," said Zia. She held out a hand to help him up from the floor. He took it.

"My name is Kurt Wagner," he said, still a bit nervously. "But some call me Nightcrawler. As vell as elf," he added, shooting a quick frown at Logan. Logan just rolled his eyes and walked toward the dining room.

"So tell me, how you did you come across the Institute?" he asked, leading the way to the dining room." Zia just shrugged and gave him a quick mysterious look.

"Well, how'd _you_ come across this place?" she asked. She surprised herself. She was never as…flirtatious…as this.

"Angels," said Kurt dreamily. Zia decided not to ask, and entered a large room with a table and chairs set up. She placed herself next to Logan and Rogue, the two who she felt she might be able to trust. It was just something in their eyes. She wasn't implying that the others were somehow untrustworthy, though. She just liked these two.

The table was talking and smiling at her. She was being introduced to some new faces. Angel, Psylocke, Cyclops, and Kitty all seemed nice, as well as Colossus and Bobby.

Jubilee was chattering away at her. "You'll just love it here, everyone is so nice. Although, the Danger Room exercises could be a bit less excruciating," she said, shooting a playful glare at Cyclops.

He said dutifully, "You'll be thankful for it, when we're being attacked. Or doing the attacking." Rogue winked at Zia, and grinned vivaciously.

"Oh Scott, ya'll is always on the defense mode," she drawled, "Can ya give us a lil' break today, with the newbie and ahl?" she gave him what she clearly thought was an innocent, sweet face. Remy snorted, and Rogue glared at him, her lips pursued.

"Neva mind, Scott, work that dirty Swamp Rat as hard as possible!" The table burst into laughter, Zia managed a quick polite smile. She was never one for laughing, let alone smiling.

Once the plates had been scraped, the table cleared, and the dishes done, the Professor came up to Zia and smiled.

"Now, Zia, I'm going to assign a student for you to tour the school. You will be seeing everything, including the Danger Room, where I hope for you to maybe get an exercise in. If you want it," he added. Zia nodded-she couldn't wait to vent off some of her energy.

"Kurt? Do you mind touring Zia around?" called the Professor to Kurt, who was currently walking out the door with Rogue and Colossus.

"Vhy, yes, of course," he said in his thick German accent. He walked up and smiled at Zia.

"Good, good, see you two later," said Xavier, rolling out the door and into the hallway.

Kurt spent about two hours showing her the entire mansion, including the door to Cerebro and the hidden escape doorway. They walked out into the garden and sat on the bench, watching the catfish swimming lazily around in the sun.

"If you don't mind me asking, how did you get your injuries?" said Kurt quietly. Zia looked at him.

"My mom's boyfriend, Bo," she answered. Suddenly, the entire story came flooding out- her dreadful home life, her near-rape, and getting abused by her co-workers, friends, and family for being a mutant.

Kurt didn't speak for a long time after that. Finally, he turned to her. "All things happen for a reason, _liebchen_. We are sometimes just too blind to see it. Shall we go to the Danger Room?"

Zia nodded, and stood up. She had felt that the tremendous weight on her chest had been lifted slightly. They walked in silence until they entered a small room that looked like a control-base. Scott and Storm were in there, pressing buttons and pulling levers. They seemed to be controlling the large room outside, where some of the people Zia met that morning where fighting, swooshing, firing, and hitting robots.

"Child, I think we can work you in," said Storm. "Enter through the door on your right. Be prepared. I'm going to go easy on you."

Zia and Kurt entered through the door. Zia was immediately tackled by a small, yellow robot. Drawing out her blades angrily, she slashed through it easily. The next one, and next one, it all began to get routine for her. Dodge, slash, jab, jump, run. She began to laugh a little, enjoying herself.

In 60 minutes time, Storm and Scott shut off the excersise. Breathing heavily, Zia exited alongside the other X-men.

She followed Jubilee back toward their rooms, the other girl chattering away as usual. Their rooms were simple and pretty, consisting of two twin beds, two dressers with a vase of flowers on top each, and a modest bathroom. Zia couldn't be happier.

After taking a shower and getting changed into clean clothes, Zia stopped to stare out the window at the grounds. She thought, '_This isn't all that bad_.'

She had no idea what was in store for her.

A/N: Hows THAT for a cliff-hanger? MUAH! Review, or I'll cry. I plan to go a LOT farther with this story. Seriously, I want it to have like, 20 chapters.


	4. Like a Bird in a Cage

Chapter 4- Capture ((This chapter kinda gets gory. You have been warned))

Disclaimer: It just occurred to me that I own Zia. So I own her, and nothing else, except for a pair of really bitchin' Toucan earrings! HA! Try to take her from me, TRY! puts up fists

**Toxic Beetle**- Sweet, I got my first counts 3 reviews! You officially rock! Thanks for all of your compliments, and yes, I agree that nobody is better than Johnny Depp. Perhaps Kurt. But then it would be a close draw. So do you think I should make Zia and Kurt hook up? I don't want it to be one of _those _stories. I also wanna carry it on, for like, ever. But, on to the story:

It was another Danger Room exercise: you had an opponent, which you had to fight and defeat without injuries, Scott had begged. It was an exercise that helped see what your teammates' weaknesses were, and strengths, and how you could help each other out on "the battlefield". Zia and Kurt were paired. Bowing slightly to each other, they began. Kurt had his swords out, Zia had hers. Dancing in the same rhythm, they jabbed, dove, and dodged.

Zia had been at the Institute 3 weeks. She was lowering her guard lightly, she began to smile, talk, and laugh a little bit more, and the X-men noticed her improvement. They didn't push her, and she was relieved for that. She just needed her time.

Their swords flashed and flew, clanging, but the noise was lost in the noise of the other opponent's battles. Jubilee suddenly released a huge, vibrant explosion to Bobby. Distracted, Zia's sword was quickly flung up by Kurt and landed 15 feet away from her.

"I vin," said Kurt triumphantly. Zia shook his hand, smiling.

"Good job," she congratulated.

"You too," he grinned.

Movement in the control room caught her eye. Looking over, she gasped. A tight-lipped Professor accompanied none other than her mother and Bo into the control room. Scott and Storm were saying something to them, they looked angry. Bo replied, a smirk on his face. Zia's mother and Bo looked up at her, a triumphant sneer on their faces. The other opponents slowly stopped their battles, glancing back from the terrified looking Zia to the couple in the control room.

Fear radiated from Zia. Jean, picking it up, contacted the Professor-_ Charles, I've never seemed someone this scared. She is going to hurt herself!_

The Professor answered her back grimly-_ I agree, she doesn't look too happy._

Zia took a few staggering steps back, her breathing labored. She began to hear that slight hum in her head again. She gulped.

Kurt took one look at her and grabbed her as if hugging her. He quickly teleported both of them to the main floor, right near the entrance.

Zia clung to him like a drowning man would cling to a lifesaver. She was shaking hard, and her face was pale as death. Her eyes were wide.

Kurt rocked her back and forth, slowly chanting, "It's okay, liebchen, I have you, its okay, its okay,"

"No, no, its not, they're here for me, they're going to take me away," she gasped. They continued in their tight embrace for awhile, until Zia broke it slowly.

She stood up, still shaking and white. She could hear voices and footsteps coming toward her.

Her mother, Bo, and the sweaty X-men fresh from the Danger Room stormed in the entrance hall. The unpleasant couple advanced toward her.

"We've come for you, to take you away, mutant," said Bo. "We signed you over to Doctor Milan. He's outside right now, with a van of government officials. We had a worry that you may be a bit uncooperative," he grinned cruelly.

"Hold on one minute, Mr. and Mrs. Tarlen," sounded Professor Xavier's voice, "I'd like to see proof. And Zia doesn't have to go if she doesn't want to."  
Mrs. Tarlen held out a packet of papers. "I'm afraid she has to, whether she likes it or not! The government is paying us good money for a mutie with powers like hers." Xavier read over the papers. With a sinking heart, he saw Mrs. Tarlen's signature, as well as Doctor Milan's and The Director of Mutant Affairs' signatures.

"You're gonna have to go through me, bub," growled Logan, and with a soft snikt he unsheathed his claws and stood in front of Zia. Bo signaled to the soldiers outside the mansion. Then, without further ado, he shot Logan clean in the stomach. Zia shrieked, her eyes terrified.

Suddenly, 20 or so soldiers burst in, guns at the ready. The leader made to grab Zia ("C'mere, Missy!"), but she drew two long jagged daggers and jumped out of his snatch. Twirling and spinning her blades back and forth, Zia was ready for a fight.

"You're not taking me alive," she spat at him. Rolling his eyes, the leader

grabbed the nearest X-man, who happened to be Jean, by the hair and dragged her backwards. He put the machine gun to her neck. Jean used all her will, and telepathically twisted the gun into a metal, useless knot. She smiled satisfactorally at his stunned expression.

At once, Zia evaporated the daggers and stepped forward, almost calmly. The leader dropped Jean.

"Don't hurt them," Zia snarled. One of the soldiers grabbed her around the middle and heaved her toward the door. No matter how hard she fought, kicked, and elbowed the soldier, he would not relent. The remaining soldiers stood in front of the furious X-men. He put a tranquilizer to Zia's head, and as he loaded the injection, she turned toward her mother, glaring at her with a hate that made her shake.

"I am not allowing this to happen," said the Prof, sounding angrier than Zia had ever heard him. "Zia belongs here, not at some mutant testing base. She's not going."

"Well, I'm sorry, Wheels, but I don't give a damn what you and your other little mutants think," the leader sneered. Zia was numb, but she felt a ripple of anger still.

"What the hell have I ever done to you?" she asked quietly. The soldier jabbed the shot the needle into her neck. She heard a few or her teemates let out a cry of anger, and start forward. She drifted off into an uneasy sleep, as chaos broke loose.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Zia woke later, groggy as hell and had a headache that killed. She had a bad habit of waking up like this lately.

Looking around, she saw that she was in a tiny cell, with a dirty hospital gown on. She had a thick, tight collar around her throat. She had heard of these things before, some type of mutant collar. She couldn't think of the name now. On it, however, there was a tiny inscription that she could only just read-**Property of Ironer Falls Government Testing Base**.

Zia could almost hear her heart stop. Ironer Falls was said to be the worst of the "government bases". They were where mutants were the guinea pigs, the little white mice, of the government and their mutant weapons testing.

Zia looked around her. She was in a dimly lit room, and across from her she could see 4 other cells like hers, and in them dark huddled shapes. Some of them twitched and cried out in their sleep.

A door opened suddenly, and a man came down the steps. He walked up to the cell next to her and opened the door.

"Number 889, you're up," he said, dragging the mutant from their cell. Zia could see that it was a skinny, blonde girl about 11 years old. Zia instantly wanted to throw up. She listened closely, and her eyes got wide. There was scream after scream, terrorized and heart-wrenching. After about 20 minutes, the same soldier brought the girl back down again. This time Zia did throw up.

The girl's head was slashed diagonally, streaming blood. She had fresh cuts on her legs and arms, with livid yellow bruises surrounding them. The soldier threw her into the cell, and then came over to Zia's. Zia quickly stood up and wiped her spit on her sleeve. She glared at him defiantly.

He laughed. "Oh, we're gonna have fun with _you_, little missy, I'm sure of it. Dirty white trash."

She launched herself at the cage door, but he just laughed and walked away.

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Later that evening, Zia could almost go insane. She had been sitting in this cell all day. None of the soldier's had come for her-yet- but she should be tested on soon. She shuddered, then looked over at the blonde girl.

She was slowly stirring, sitting up and rubbing her eyes. Zia crawled over to the wall. "Hey," she whispered.

The blonde girl looked at her warily. "Hey. You new here?"

Zia nodded. "I'm Zia, 17 years old." She held out her hand through the bars.

The girl took her hand. "I'm Lyla, 13 years old."

Zia started. "But…you look so…young."

The girl shrugged. "I've been here about 4 months already." She suddenly paled. "It only gets worse from here though."

Zia leaned closer. "Listen, I'm going to try to bust us out if my team the X-men doesn't come first." When Lyla looked questioningly at her, Zia began to tell her about the X-men. She fell into a dreamy daze, talking about her mother, her encounter with Logan, and her new family and home.

Lyla nodded. "Sounds interesting. Do you think…I mean would they let me join?" she asked timidly.

Zia smiled slightly. "They never turn anyone down. Don't worry. So, what's your story?"

Lyla had been tricked here by her parents. Once they found out about her mutation (controlling light), they pretended to be taking her for a car ride, when really they turned her over to the government for a large amount of money.

"Shh," said Zia suddenly. She could hear loud soldier's voices drifting down. They were loud and drunken as the stumbled down the steps. The soldier who Zia encountered before pointed at her and sauntered over to the front of her cage. Zia could see another soldier doing the same to Lyla.

"Get back," she said hoarsely. She realized she was a weakened, skinny girl who was going up against a strong, drunk, armed man. There was no chance.

He opened her cage. Zia was in a daze.

He grabbed her and forced her to the ground, laughing. Zia could hear nothing.

He took off her hospital gown, revealing her skinny pale flesh. Zia could feel nothing.

He began to kiss her breasts. Zia remembered vividly the night when she met Logan.

He laughed and pulled down her pants. Zia closed her eyes and thought of the Professor. _Help_.

He unbuttoned his pants. Zia thought of Kurt reciting his German prayers.

And as she was violated by this strange, smelly, man, the only thing she could bring to her head was a bird, flying, flying, and then gone.

A/N: Yeah, sorry about that, but I didn't want one of those cheesy stories where the girl gets saved _just_ in time as the soldiers starts to rape her. News Flash: That's absolute bull. Anyway, R/R PLEASE! The words are pouring from me literally. I will have 3 more chapters up by the end of the night, I swear to God.


	5. The Rebellion

Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I own the OC box set, Toucan earrings, and Zia. And Lyla, I suppose. And maybe this plot (sorry if I accidentally offend someone/Marvel people)

**Big, whopping thanks to all of my darling 2 reviewers. You really made my day. Review with some suggestions, PLEASE! Lol. THANKS, I love you both! **

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It was almost blissful. Being starved half to death, going through excruciatingly painful experiments, raped, and beaten daily. It was blissful because Zia began to get used to it. She had Lyla, and as long as she had her in that Place, she didn't have to worry. The other mutants had died, apparently. They were the only two left. She had been here about 2 weeks.

One morning, Zia came back late from an experiment. The soldier threw her roughly into her cell, not bothering to keep his hands to himself. Zia lay there for a few minutes, feeling the blood trickle down her body. She needed to gather up her strength. She crawled toward Lyla.

"Hey," she crooned softly. Zia knew Lyla was still recovering from an experiment where they had gone into her eyes to see what was controlling the light in her body. She had come back a mess. Zia was now getting worried. She could see the girl's thin chest heaving up and down, but other than that there was no sign of life. Zia sighed; it had been 2 weeks now, but now response from the X-men, although sometimes she did get feeble waves of the Prof trying very hard to reach her. But she knew it wasn't going to work- the base was too guarded from psychic attacks with special technology.

Zia lifted her head suddenly. A soldier, Matthews was his name, was coming down the steps. He was only 20-something. Zia gave an involuntary shudder- he was the one who had raped her first. He was fairly handsome, with wavy blonde hair and a nice build. But he was also vile and stupid.

He walked toward Lyla's cell. Zia watched him, dumbfounded. She was too weak to go through that now!

He laid Lyla on the table, grinning in anticipation. Zia was about to yell at him when Lyla stirred. He reached a hand under her hospital gown, fingering her roughly. In a split second, Lyla smacked him across the face smartly.

He looked livid with rage. Raising his hand, he beat any part of her body that he could reach. Zia gasped in horror- he was slowly and surely killing her. She looked around her cell wildly. The food tray. She slipped it under her gown discreetly.

Zia screamed, "Hey, bastard, pick on somebody your own size!"

He looked over at her, feasting one her half-naked body. He dropped Lyla like a ragdoll and opened up her cell. He picked her up by the neck and carried her out of the cell. Choking and sputtering for breath, Zia reached and brought the food tray down on his head as hard as possible. He dropped her, rubbing his head. She beat him, again and again, a white-hot fury consuming her. She could hear voices, whispers, again in her head, telling her to do it, egging her on. She hit him until he was bleeding from a small wound in his head, and out cold.

Zia dropped next to Lyla's body. "Please, please, baby, not yet, you're not dead, you're not dead," she whispered over and over, checking for a sign of life.

"Zia," Lyla breathed. "Peace."

Her head lolled on her shoulder, dead and still warm.

The tears threatened to overwhelm her, but Zia held them back. Instead, she shook and shook, rocking herself, until she was close to exhaustion. But she knew she had many more miles to go before she slept. She groped around in Matthew's pockets before she found a set of keys. With difficulty, Zia undid hers and Lyla's collar. She massaged her neck for a second, unused to the sudden rush of air on it, and then flipped out two long blades. She then took the soldier's boots and jacket. Swinging Lyla over her shoulder, Zia exited through the doorway.

She could see faint shadows, moving around doorways, beckoning her. Some were normal looking teenagers; others had obvious mutations like tails and wings. She followed them, pulsing with sudden energy. She followed a ghostly pale teenage boy into a room filled with soldiers playing cards or lounging around. They started to yell. She ducked, leapt under the table they were sitting at. She threw a sword upwards to a soldier, stabbing him in the stomach. In and out, dodge and duck, punch and kick. It was just like the Danger Room. More soldiers streamed in.

As if being controlled by some unseen force, Zia gently discarded Lyla's body under the table and got ready for a fight. Slash and stab, jab and thrust, cut and bloody. The ghostly illusions of the mutants were circled around the room, hissing insults and to the soldiers and whispering encouragement to Zia. The more she went on, the more she got pumped up.

Finally, the bloody massacre was done. She piled the bodies up in the room, and then strode out, Lyla's body over her shoulders. There was something she had to do first before she left. Walking briskly toward a room at the end of the hallway, she entered **Security Room**. A couple stabs through the machine later, there was no longer a psychic block on Ironer Falls Government Base.

She followed the stream of mutants up some stairs and out into the cold brisk air. Looking around, she saw that she was in a forest area, with trees all around, except for wide dirt clearing. She stumbled in the sudden natural light. Zia dragged herself over to a tree, and plopped herself down. She was drained completely; she probably couldn't even stand up as of now. So, she amused her hazy mind by combing out the tangles in Lyla's hair, making it shine golden again. Her stomach reminded her that she had not had adequate meals in weeks by groaning loudly, but she happily ignored it. She was in a perfect, hard little shell from the real world.

She watched glimpses of mutants, playing tag or running around with each other. She even saw for a moment a group of teenage girls braiding each other's pearly grey hair in a circle, chattering to each other. However, Zia heard not a noise except for the wind creaking the treetops and birds twitting to each other in the afternoon sunshine. She had to admit, it was rather beautiful in an eerie way.

She must have drifted asleep, because when she woke up it was dark out. Cursing herself for her stupidity, she jumped up, drawing her swords. The ghost mutants were gone. Standing about 15 feet in front of her was a grey/white greyhound, staring at her with big black orbs. Zia stared back with a mixture of curiosity and surprise.

Suddenly, there was a rush of air from up above. Looking up, she saw the X-jet trying to land in the clearing. She staggered backwards, towards the tree and Lyla.

Once it landed, there was complete silence in the forest. The ramp suddenly opened, and Logan, Remy, and Storm walked out.

"Zia!" cried Storm, running toward her. Zia allowed herself to be embraced.

"You okay, petit?" asked Remy gently. Zia half-shrugged.

"C'mon, let's get you out of here," said Logan, steering her to the ramp. Zia picked up Lyla in her arms with some difficulty, and then followed her. As she walked up the ramp, Zia took one look back. The dog was still there, staring at her. Zia beckoned the dog to follow her by patting her thigh. The greyhound immediately trotted up the ramp after her.

Before strapping herself in, she went to the back of the jet, and tightly locked Lyla onto a hospital cot. She drew the white cotton sheets over her head, hating Matthews. She went back to her seat, not saying a word to anybody. The dog was curled up by her feet, fast asleep.

The trip seemed to take no time at all, although Zia knew it was almost 4 hours away from the Institute. As she walked down the Z-jet's ramp, Zia felt her legs weakening under her. Catching her as she fell was Logan. He carried her through the long hallways and curtained windows to the medi-lab, Zia half-conscious. The dog was trotting along at their sides the entire time. Zia vaguely remembered her first time here at the medi-lab. How was that over a month ago? It felt like 1,000 years to her.

Beast gasped when he saw her appearance. Logan laid Zia down on a hospital bed gently. She could hear a murmured conversation between the two, but heard no words. The dog sat calmly by the bed. Zia didn't even know why she had brought him along; she was far from caring though.

Storm walked up to her. "Child, this may be a sore subject for you right now, but do you want your young friend cremated or buried?"

"Cre…Crem…" began Zia croakily. She was dimly surprised that she couldn't seem to talk properly. Storm nodded her understanding, and suddenly sighed and stroked her forehead.

Zia knew she was probably ugly now. Before, she had a kind of fierce, determined beauty but now, now she knew was just plain ugly. Her hair was lank and dull, dirty and matted. Her body was emaciated, every single bone stood out clearly. Her limbs, body, and face were all filthy and smelling.

"Zia," Beast's voice interrupted her thoughts, "I'm going to run a few tests and hook you up to an IV. I need you to sit still. Can you do that?"

She nodded once, and absentmindedly stroked the dog while Beast attached the IV to her hand, gave her a few shots, and did a thorough exam on her. She amused herself by watching various members of the X-men come in and cry, rant, and fuss over her. After about an hour and a half, Beast came over to her.

"Alright, I'm going to have to keep you in here for a couple of days, if not at least a week. You are in very critical condition." Zia nodded mutely.

"Zia," Beast started awkwardly. "Lots of things happened in there, didn't they?" Zia half-shrugged, then reluctantly nodded.

"Alright," said Beast. He sounded as if he was going to regret his next words. "I… I mean you…are pregnant."

"Pregnant?" Zia said softly.

Beast nodded, and Logan came over to the bed."

"Pregnant?" Zia repeated.

Beast nodded, "Yes."

"Pregnant?" Zia said.

Logan cursed under his breath.

"Pregnant?" Zia said, falling back into the pillows.

Beast sighed, "I'm so, so sorry, Zia."

Zia seemed to have snapped out of a doze. She glared haughtily at Beast and Logan. "Well, go on and tell the rest of the X-men, why don't you."

Logan held up his hands. "Kid, you can tell 'em when you want. My lips are sealed."

"Tell them. Let them know. I'm past caring." Zia turned on her side, hating herself. She was _pregnant_ by rape. She was disgusted with herself. Her dirty, unclean self.

"Zia?" asked Beast softly.

"Leave me alone." She said, almost growling. She felt Beast checking her IV, making sure she was settled for the night, then left.

When she was fairly sure nobody was in with her anymore, she curled up in a tiny ball and wadded the sheets in her mouth. The tears came slow at first, silent and steady. But towards the middle, the entire bed was shaking with her stifled sobs. It started out as innocent fate, and ended up with this slow wheezing death.

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**A/N:**Hrmm...what oh what shall I do nextto this poor character? R/R or I'll cry ;( 


	6. Coincidence

Chapter 6

**Cheers to all of you who have reviewed. Most of them have been very helpful. **

**((AN)) I know someone who truly disgusted at Zia's condition right now, but it does happen you know. Pregnancy by rape. Gah, its disgusting, I know. I'm sorry to those who were revolted, I really am.**

The next morning, Zia awoke slowly. She peered blearily around, and remembered she was in the lab. She signed. She had a feeling the next 8 months were going to be hell. She jumped up from the cot and quickly found some spare clothing in the closet. She changed out of her hospital gown and into the loose jeans, black tank top, and olive green hoodie. She looked down, suddenly. The dog. It was staring up at her with big black eyes, like a beaten puppy.

As she opened the medi-lab door to leave, the dog right at her side, she ran right into Beast, followed behind by Logan.

"Ah, glad to see you awake and up," said Beast cheerfully. "But I'm afraid you're not quite ready to leave yet, so if you would just turn around-"

"No," said Zia simply, cutting him off. "I can heal on my own."

"I'm sure you can," Beast began graciously, "But you need to stay here so I can make sure you're completely healed first."

Zia ignored this comment and shoved past him and Logan. Beast began to walk after her and called her name, alarmed, but she heard Logan holding him back and muttering something to him.

Zia moved quickly and silently down a stairway toward her room. Turning a corner, she ran headlong into Kurt and Jubilee.

"Liebchen! Ve vas just coming to see you!" Kurt said happily, although his eyes rested on her bandaged injuries hesitantly.

"Good. Have fun," Zia edged around him and walked quickly down the hallway. Kurt teleported right in front of her with a loud BAMF, with Jubilee running after him.

"But-"

"I don't want to talk to anyone right now,"

"Zia-"

"Kurt move,"

"I just-"

"I don't care, Kurt! I really don't care! Move!" she yelled. Jubilee and Kurt both gasped. Zia ignored them and headed to her room, slamming the door behind her.

She plopped down on her bed. Jubilee came in and gave her a look.

"You didn't have to be so mean, you know. We were only trying to be nice," she said.

Zia chose not to respond to this comment. Instead, she turned away from her, towards the wall. Jubilee edged closer cautiously.

"Was it…horrible in there?" she asked.

"I don't want to talk about it," responded Zia icily.

"Well, I'm here if you need to talk, okay?" said Jubilee hopefully. "About anything, really. Your time in there, how you're feeling, your baby-"

It happened so fast Zia didn't even see it coming herself. She flipped over and threw a sharp headed arrow at Jubilee's head. It landed with a nice THWACK, embedded in the wall behind Jubilee, narrowly missing her. Jubilee shrieked and ducked down. Zia was horrified.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, it was an accident!" Zia was practically begging for forgiveness. "Please, I didn't mean to, it just happened-"

Jubilee was staring at her, looking terrified. Zia let out a dry gasp, and ran towards the door, and started running. The Prof and Jean immediately sensed her distress, and tried to contact her, but Zia put up her mental walls.

She didn't know where she was going, or why she was going anywhere. She also didn't know what she was doing, and why she was or wasn't doing it. This was happening too much lately.


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